In the last chapter, as we have said, it is materialism: trust
in the stability of that which can be seen, in contrast with trust
in the word of God which teaches us to look for the coming of
Jesus, the return of the Lord. They judge by their senses. There
is, say they, no appearance of change. This is not the case. To the
eye of man it is indeed true that there is none. But these
unbelievers are wilfully ignorant of the fact that the world has
been already judged once; that the waters, out of which by the
mighty word of God the earth came, had for the moment swallowed it
up again, all perishing except those whom God preserved in the
ark. And by the same word the present heavens and earth are
reserved for the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. It
is not that the Lord is slack concerning the promise of His return,
but that He is still exercising grace, not wishing any to perish,
but that all should come to repentance. And a thousand years are
to Him but as a day, and a day as a thousand years. But the day of
the Lord shall come, in which all things will pass away, and the
elements shall melt with fervent heat, and all that is on the earth
will be consumed. Solemn consideration for the children of God, to
maintain them in complete separation from evil, and from all that
is seen, looking for and hastening the day in which the heavens
shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat!
Everything on which the hopes of the flesh are founded shall
disappear for ever. Nevertheless, there shall be new heavens and a
new earth, in which righteousness shall dwell. It is not here said,
"shall reign," which would be the thousand years of the Lord's
dominion; here it is the eternal state, in which the government,
that has brought all things into order, will terminate, and
unhindered blessing will flow from God, the kingdom being given up
to God the Father. It is in following out the ways of God in
government that the apostle carries them on to the eternal state,
in which the promise will be finally accomplished. The millennium
itself was the restitution, of which the prophets had spoken; and,
morally, the heavens and the earth had been changed by the
imprisonment of Satan and the reign of Christ (see Isaiah 65: 17,
18, Jerusalem having been made a rejoicing); and the heavens indeed
entirely cleared by power, never to be defiled by Satan again, the
saints on high too in their eternal state, the earth delivered, but
not yet finally freed. But, materially, the dissolution of the
elements was necessary for the renewal of all things. It will be
observed, that the Spirit does not speak here of the coming of
Christ, except to say that it will be scoffed at in the last
days. He speaks of the day of God, in contrast with the trust of
unbelievers in the stability of the material things of creation,
which depends, as the apostle shows, on the word of God. And in
that day everything on which unbelievers rested and will rest shall
be dissolved and pass away. This will not be at the commencement of
the day, but at its close; and here we are free to reckon this day,
according to the apostle's word, as a thousand years, or whatever
length of period the Lord shall see fit. So solemn a dissolution of
all that the flesh rests upon should lead us so to walk as to be
found of the Lord, when He comes to introduce that day, in peace
and blameless; accounting that the apparent delay is only the
Lord's grace, exercised for the salvation of souls. We may well
wait, if God makes use of this time to rescue souls from judgment,
by bringing them to the knowledge of Himself, and saving them with
an everlasting salvation. This, the apostle says, had been taught
by Paul, who wrote to them (the Hebrew believers) of these things,
as he did also in his other epistles. It is interesting to see that
Peter, who had been openly rebuked before all by Paul, introduces
him here with entire affection. He notices that Paul's epistles
contained an exalted doctrine, which they who were unstable, and
not taught of God, perverted. For Peter in fact does not follow
Paul in the field on which the latter had entered. This however
does not prevent his speaking of Paul's writings as forming a part
of the scriptures; "as also the other scriptures," he says. This is
an important testimony; which moreover gives the same character to
the writings of one who is able to bestow this title on the
writings of another. Let Christians then be watchful, and not allow
themselves to be seduced by the errors of the wicked, but strive to
grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ. To Him be glory both now and for ever. Amen!